The best bug sprays and repellents

Sawyer Premium Permethrin doesn't just repel bugs, it mercilessly kills anything that lands on it.

I don't like killing anything more than you do, but "live and let live" just doesn't fly when some pestilent little blood-sucking insect or arachnid threatens to sentence me to a slow, agonizing disease or, you know, death. Sorry little critters, but Lyme Disease and Malaria are no joke.

Permethrin, which is what doctors prescribe to patients with lice and scabies, is an odorless solution that works wonders against most any creepy crawly thing this planet might toss at you. The only shortcoming is that it does not stay on our skin for much longer than 15 minutes, so it's hardly effective at all unless you're wearing clothes.

For hunters and anglers, giving off any scent, let alone one so unnatural and odorously offensive as that of DEET is death to their pursuit. In fact, if a serious enough hunter or angler catches you applying the stuff on the way into the woods or out onto the sea, they are likely to make you shower it off, or worse, leave you in the parking lot.


Continue reading Business Insider's list of best bug sprays here.